Chapter 13 – Rose.
Sorey's boots crackled noisily on river rocks as he forced himself onto his feet, wincing from the countless aches and bruises flaring in protest to the harsh movement of his body. He forced himself to forge onward into the shallow waters, letting out an involuntary hiss as the ice-cold river waters lapped at his waist.
"Come on!" he grunted through gritted teeth, stumbling towards the humanoid brown and black lump lying partially submerged in the water near the riverbank with something long and wooden protruding out of it. His breath misted in the cold night air as he panted, arduously tugging the unconscious body of the assassin through the water and back towards dry land.
With the last vestiges of his strength, Sorey managed to heave the Scattered Bones assassin onto the lush grass growing by the riverside, soaking wet. He let out a groan, collapsing onto his back beside their body in utter exhaustion and fatigue. His breathing ragged, he kept his eyes open by staring up into the night sky high above.
It was heavily obscured by the expansive network of leaves and branches of enormous oak trees standing vigil all around him. The canopy of the peculiar forest he was in was so high and thick that the entire area felt akin to an enormous cavern, supported by thick pillars of aged wood trunks. As his noisy breathing calmed, he slowly became aware of the other sounds filling the quite night. The crisp, flowing murmur of leaves waving in the night breeze. The babbling of the now calm river slowly lapping against a rocky shore. The parliament of owls hooting distantly into the chilly air.
In the wake of the chaos that he had been embroiled in for the past day, the tranquility of the area seemed almost surreal. Feeling his mind lethargically reorienting itself in the wake of it all, Sorey slowly sat up and turned his full attention to the wounded person lying at his side.
He froze in shock.
Rose, the leader of the Sparrowfeather Merchants, laid before him unconscious, clothed in the dark, foreboding garb of a killer. Her mask had evidently fallen off of her face during the fall.
After a moment's pause, Sorey directed his attention from her face to her wound. The thrown spear had managed to lodge itself partially in the woman's flesh and partially in her padded clothing, which was thicker than it looked. Thankfully, the wound didn't seem to be so deep that it would prove life-threatening. If treated soon.
He glanced over his shoulder. "Mikleo?" he called out. His only response was the quiet groaning of wood in the cavernous forest.
Sorey gritted his teeth. "That man. Just what did he do to me…?" Brief moments of his helplessness flashed before his eyes, reminding him keenly of how weak he had been. His fists clenched. His gaze eventually came to rest once more upon the fresh wound on the assassin's leg.
Determination steeling his features, Sorey settled down cross-legged beside the woman's injured leg and reached for his medical supplies. Time flowed along with the river he sat beside as he tended to the assassin's wound. Idly, he registered the chirping of birds and the brightening of the world as the sun began to rise somewhere beyond the canopy of the vast, looming trees. His stomach growled while his throat screamed for water. His own body ached fiercely all over alongside the dozens of minor injuries dotting his skin under his ripped clothing. Eventually he sat back with a relieved sigh, carefully observing his handiwork.
The bloodied spear had long since been tossed aside, whereas the puncture wound it had caused had only now been effectively treated with the bleeding having been fully stifled. He glanced around, only now fully registering that the sun had long since risen, its rays threading through the leaves above to carpet the empty forest floor around him with brilliant dotted patterns.
On cue, his stomach let out an angry growl, causing him to wince. "…We gotta get out of here." he decided under his breath.
After a moment's hesitation, he bent down and, minding her injured leg, hoisted the assassin up on his back. Acclimating himself to the added weight, the Shepherd randomly chose a direction and set off through the quiet forest, surrounded by nothing but the ambiance of the forest with only his own thoughts to keep him company.
He thought about what had happened. His effort in the war to support Hyland. His failure in confronting the horrid Lord of Calamity. Him losing his powers as the Shepherd along with his ability to perceive seraphim. All of it. Ever since he had left Elysia, there had scarcely been a time when the Shepherd hadn't had his friends by his side, now that he thought about it. It had been a constant reassurance, knowing that his seraphic allies were always there, watching over him with every step he took in this vast, unknown world.
In the end, he supposed it shouldn't've been such a surprise that he would be so weak by himself. He furrowed his brow as he stared down at the ground, watching his two feet make progress little by little.
A groan from over his shoulder caused him to stop in his tracks. "…Hey." Sorey greeted gently as he turned his head towards the redheaded woman on his back. "You awake?"
Her blue eyes blinked blearily back at him, slowly taking in her surroundings. All around them, birds continued to chirp lightly amongst the trees. "So." Sorey prompted conversationally. "You're the leader of that assassin's group."
"Mm…" The assassin let out a quiet yawn in response. "…Surprised?"
"Well… sure." He paused. "What should I call you?"
"Rose will do just fine." She shifted slightly on his back, rolling her shoulders tiredly. "And hey…" She inclined her head towards her bandaged left leg, her eyebrow raised. "Why didn't you just leave me behind?"
"You saved me. It's only fair to return the favor." Sorey reasoned. "Who you are or what you do doesn't change that." He tilted his head curiously. "…But what I don't get is what someone like you was doing there rescuing me in the first place."
"I don't know." Rose admitted tiredly. "I'll have to decide later if it was really the right decision." She let her heavy eyelids slide shut before opening them again. "…But I can tell you're a good person." she breathed.
Sorey tilted his head curiously.
Suddenly, the assassin on his back went rigid. "We're being followed." she announced lowly. Observing her surroundings, Rose nodded to herself. "…Let's head north." she suggested. "There's a ruin off that way that we're currently using as a hideout."
"Got it." he acknowledged. "Want me to set you down?"
"I'm good." she declined graciously, slumping forward. "This'll give 'em a false sense of security."
Sorey winced tiredly. "R…right." he mumbled, resuming his steps forward.
"…By the way, did those signatures end up helping you out at all?"
"Huh?" Sorey turned his head over his shoulder towards Rose, who was still playing unconscious slumped over on his back as he walked, before finally recalling what she was talking about. "…Oh! They actually did." he answered, thinking back to the document that had given him leverage over Landon back on the battlefield. "Thanks again for doing that for me back there."
"Ah, it was nothing." Rose replied easily with her eyes closed. "Anything to stick it to that lousy general." She shifted subtly in his grip, readjusting her arms dangling around his neck. "Forcing you into the war like that was a real jerk move." she grumbled.
Sorey couldn't help but chuckle at that. "I can't disagree there." He tilted his head. "But what were you doing on that battlefield?"
"Just gathering information." She shifted on his back. "I was surprised to not see that friend of yours with you back there. Her name was… Velvet, right?"
He nodded. "She and I split up for a time." he explained. "She said she'd find me later on after she was done with something."
"Then it's a good thing she left when she did." Rose noted soberly. "I'm still not entirely sure what the heck was going on back in that basin, but whatever it was, it wasn't good." she sighed. "…Just when you think you've seen it all." she muttered.
Sorey was silent at that.
Once more, the two were surrounded by the sounds of the forest in addition to the rhythmic crunching of Sorey's boots on grass. Eventually, the two of them came upon a well-aged clump of ruined stone nestled between the huge root of a particularly large oak tree.
"B… Boss?!"
Sorey blinked and watched as masked people wearing black and brown materialized from out of nowhere before him, dropping down from hidden perches to gather before him and Rose. He watched as the assassins all took their masks off, revealing a varied cast of faces he recognized from his various run-ins with the Sparrowfeather Merchants.
"The Shepherd?" The merchant Eguille's eyebrows were raised as he slid the mask from his face, stepping to the forefront of the assassins. His eyes narrowed as his gaze fell on the bandage around Rose's leg.
With a spontaneous burst of energy, Rose slid lithely out of Sorey's grasp and trotted over, gingerly testing her injured leg before falling into a mostly regular stride. "We were followed, so I led 'em here." She jerked her head over her shoulder. "Now comes the fun part."
Without question, the other assassins quickly followed her orders, dashing off into the wilderness in the indicated direction.
Sorey's eyes were hard as he turned to Rose. "…You're going to kill them?" he breathed.
Rose shrugged. "Depends." she replied ambiguously. She turned instead to face one of the other assassins as he approached. "I'm alright, Eguille. Don't sweat it." she stressed, stopping him from saying anything.
The tall man closed his mouth and shook his head with a wry, exasperated expression. "…You know your limits." he conceded. "Go on, then."
Rose nodded seriously. With that, she whirled around and burst into motion, dashing off in pursuit of the other assassins.
"Hey-!" Sorey quickly turned to follow, only to be stopped by Eguille stepping in front of him. "…Let me through." he demanded.
Eguille gave him a stern look. "And let you do what, exactly?" he asked, crossing his arms. "Get in the way as you try to stop killers from killing?" All around them, the remaining assassins staying at the hideout continued to watch the Shepherd guardedly.
Sorey gritted his teeth, wrapping his hand around the pommel of this blade.
"Move, Eguille." he stressed lowly. "Please." Slowly, his tired muscles clenched in clear preparation for a fight.
Eguille carefully considered the Shepherd's determined expression. All around him the dozen assassins surrounding the Shepherd began to tense as well, reaching for their sheathed daggers and dirks. A thick silence fell in the wake of his demand; an unmistakable prelude to conflict.
"…Alright." Evidently reaching a decision, Eguille abruptly stepped smoothly to the side, wordlessly letting the Shepherd through.
Sorey gave him a nod of appreciation, letting his hand fall from his sword. "Thanks."
And with that, he burst into a run, sprinting away from the ruins and towards where Rose and the other assassins had gone. Eguille watched as the Shepherd disappeared into the forest, a thoughtful glint in his eyes.
"Aaaaah!"
A terrified, youthful screech echoed throughout the forest, followed by similar scattered screams as the Scattered Bones simultaneously fell upon the intruders in their territory. Metal knives and daggers screeched as they were ripped from their sheaths, their jagged points coming to a halt millimeters away from each intruder's neck and forcing all of them to freeze in mortal terror.
Couched upon a thick root jutting out from the ground giving him a vantage point overseeing the meadow below, Sorey watched on motionlessly as the remaining children were efficiently rounded up and gathered at the base of an aged tree stump by the assassins. He watched on as the leader of the Scattered Bones stepped forward, spinning her right knife casually in her gloved hands.
Rose came to a halt, running her eyes over the terrified faces of the children with an unreadable expression. She held the eyes of each child for a split second, her own eyes piercing each and every one. Her gaze eventually came to halt upon the oldest of the group; a young man who had only barely begun to grow facial hair glaring back up at her in stubborn defiance.
The dagger spinning in her hand came to a swift halt as she lunged.
"GAAAAHH!"
The boy leader screamed as he fell to the ground, all pretenses of bravado shattered in an instant as two razor-sharp blades crossed in front of his neck, the cold kiss of metal shocking his hot flesh as his jugular rose and fell with his panicked breathing. Kneeling atop the boy with one knee pushing directly into his gut, Rose leaned down inches towards the leader.
"You're not too good at this, huh?" she asked casually.
The boy blinked rapidly. "Hu… Huh?" he stammered. "What do you…?"
Rose straightened her back, still effortlessly holding her blades at his neck. "Well, if you wanna be the head of a group of killers, you gotta do it right." she reasoned. "A leader needs to have a backbone. You can't just bend and break at the first sign of danger, you know? You lose your own nerve, and so does everyone else in the gang." Her eyes narrowed.
"Then again, I suppose slaughtering tired soldiers in their sleep doesn't really give you all that much of a challenge, does it?" she mused.
All around them, the group of roughly a dozen children held hostage shifted nervously as one. The masked assassins holding them hostage stood quietly behind them all; terrifying embodiments of real-life reapers that had finally come to deal justice for the crimes they had committed.
The breathing of their leader, still at Rose's mercy, grew even more ragged. "We… we didn't have a choice…!" he pleaded weakly. "We were going to starve… what were we to do?" When her merciless gaze didn't change, he squeezed his eyes shut, turning away from her blades.
"…I'm… I'm s-s-sorry!" he whimpered, tears leaking down his cheeks. "I know… I know we d-did a… b-bad thing…!" he stammered.
"I… I d-don't wanna d-die!" he cried.
Rose sighed, glancing briefly up with hard eyes at the other children surrounding her. Some were shaking uncontrollably on the spot, while others were crying just like their leader. They were all just a bunch of desperate little kids.
Making her decision, Rose gestured with her head. Just as quickly as they had drawn them, the knives of the surrounding Scattered Bones assassins were sheathed as they all simultaneously took a step back away from the children they had been holding hostage. Their leader hiccupped in confusion as Rose stood, gasping for breath as her knee left his stomach.
He jumped in terror and surprise as something heavy landed on his stomach again, only to blink in confusion as he felt the ragged texture of a pouch of gald in his hands.
Rose gave the kid down at her feet a dangerous smile, resting her left dagger on her hip while letting the other dangle at her side. "If I hear word of any of you hunting soldiers again, you won't get off so easily next time, I promise." She violently tossed the dagger in her right hand high in the air, keeping her eyes on the leader, only to catch it easily without sparing it a glance in a clear display of prowess.
"Well go on, skedaddle!"
She didn't need to tell them twice. Gasping and grunting, the group of kids scrambled onto their feet with shaky limbs, haphazardly following their leader as they bolted off into the forest. Rose gave a sigh as they ran off, absently twirling the daggers in her hands before sheathing them behind her back.
"Make sure they don't double back on us." she gestured, having the majority of the assassins nearby run off after the children. "What a stupid mess." she muttered as they did what she'd told them to do.
The sound of approaching footsteps drew her gaze. "…You know, I was honestly expecting you to try and stop us." Rose remarked, turning to face the Shepherd as he slowly came to a halt in front of her and the remaining assassins. "So color me surprised."
"Well… I didn't see the need to." Sorey confessed honestly. "I had a feeling you weren't going to hurt them."
One of the assassins standing nearby removed the mask from his face, revealing a youthful redheaded young man with a curious expression. "How could you have possibly known that?" he asked Sorey. "We're assassins."
"I know that." he agreed. "And I still personally don't believe that killing is the right answer for anything. But…"
Rose tilted her head curiously. "'But…?'"
Sorey met her gaze. "I've come to understand the reality that not everyone who kills is necessarily a bad person." He reached up and scratched his hair. "And that's why I figured you guys wouldn't kill those kids; because you all aren't evil people. It was just that simple, I guess." Silence fell in the wake of his words, filled by the chirping of birds and the rustling of leaves.
"Hahaha!" Rose abruptly burst into incredulous laughter. "You're a real nutcase Sorey, you know that?" she snickered, rubbing her temple with her right hand.
Sorey blinked in surprise. "Really?"
The redhead who had spoken before chuckled, crossing his arms. "He's something else alright. I see what you were talking about, Boss."
At the redhead's side, another assassin took her mask off, revealing a feminine face with strikingly similar features. "Contrary to everything I've heard about him, he's surprisingly level-headed." she noted.
A man with a black-haired ponytail placed his own mask inside his pack behind him as he stepped forward. "What really impressed me was how well he handled Hyland's coercion of him into the war." He nodded towards Rose. "Quite the insight, him asking for you as a witness to his deal with the general."
Rose put a hand on her hip, glancing at Sorey's sheepish expression. "He worked wonders on the actual battlefield, too." she pointed out. "I didn't hang around too long to see, but it looked like both sides had come to a complete standstill after his appearance. And it didn't look like he hurt anybody too badly; he was just trying to scare the Empire off."
The male twin nodded deeply. "He wasn't lying when he said he doesn't believe in killing, then."
Standing beside him, his sister crossed her arms in agreement. "That speaks much about his character, at least."
Sorey scratched his cheek shyly. "Uh, you guys? I'm standing right here."
"We know." Rose chirped, turning to him. "We're just sharing thoughts to see whether or not you're a bad person. Oh, and by the way…" She stepped forward, steel suddenly lacing her voice as she declared, "If the Shepherd turns out to be a force for evil that leads people astray… We won't hesitate to kill you." she promised. "Keep that in mind."
Sorey blinked.
"Ah, so that's why you've been following me all this time ever since Ladylake." he concluded. "That's one more mystery solved, then." he summarized happily.
Rose gave him an incredulous look. "…That's your reaction to a death threat?"
"Haha, I'm sorry." Sorey grinned apologetically, running his gloved hand through his hair. "I figure if I get to a point where you people want to kill me, well." He shrugged. "I'll probably deserve it then."
Behind him, the female twin shook her head. "…I suppose it's fair to say at the moment, you're not one of those who deserves to taste our blade." She abruptly stepped forward, offering a gloved hand to the Shepherd. "My name's Felice." she introduced herself with a gentle smile. "Thanks for saving our Boss back there."
"Hey!" Rose pouted. "I would've been fine without his help, thank you very much!"
As Sorey took Felice's hand and shook it, her redheaded twin stepped up beside her and did the same. "And I'm Talfryn. In case you couldn't tell, Felice and I are twins."
"Rosh." Behind Talfryn, the other black-haired assassin inclined his head, keeping his arms crossed. "Pleasure to meet you in person, Shepherd."
Sorey nodded to each assassin in turn. "It's good to finally see your guys' faces." he returned respectfully.
Suddenly, a black and brown blur dropped seemingly out of nowhere to land before them all, causing Sorey to jolt in surprise. Rose didn't miss a beat, turning to face the newcomer assassin as he stood up from his landing. "Eguille?" she prompted.
"The band of children have cleared the general area surrounding the hideout." The man reported gruffly, crossing his arms. "It would be best, however, to do a thorough sweep of the area, just to confirm we haven't missed any stragglers. I already have the rest of squad two inspecting the far reaches of the forest."
Rosh nodded and stepped forward, taking the initiative. "Then Talfryn, Felice and I will skulk around the area nearest to the hideout."
"That would be best." At Eguille's nod, the three of them swiftly turned on their feet and dashed off in different directions. Meanwhile, the man turned his gaze towards Rose and Sorey. "As for you two, go back to the hideout." he told them sternly. "Drink lots of water. Rest up."
"No complaints here." Rose agreed wholeheartedly, breaking out into a tired yawn and stretching her limbs like a cat. "Yeesh. I'm totally pooped!"
Sorey grinned weakly. "Me too. Carrying you for that long was seriously harder than I had thought it would be." He winced, rolling his sore shoulders. "Whew!" he breathed.
"…Hey." Rose gave him a grouchy glare. "That's a little rude of you, don't you think?" she grumbled.
She froze suddenly, turning her head off to the side.
Eguille gave her a once-over with a sharp eye. "…What's wrong?" he asked seriously, looking in the direction that Rose was staring at. To his eyes, there was nothing but gently waving oak trees and foliage that could be seen in the distance.
Rose abruptly shrugged, turning to face him with an easy smile. "False alarm. Just some wild animal." she dismissed, turning to Sorey. "C'mon, let's get going!"
"Sure." Sorey agreed.
Together, they headed out; a Shepherd and a lead assassin, brought together through random chance.
Rose yawned once more, stretching her arms as she and Sorey trotted through the scattered ruins at the base of the tree to arrive at an inconspicuous opening in the ground with an iron ladder pinned to the top. "Whew! I'd say that's enough for one day." She turned to face Sorey cheerily. "There's a bed down in the back. Use it whenever you want. Ask around if you need anything else."
"Thanks, Rose." Sorey returned gratefully.
When it became evident that she wasn't following him inside, he tilted his head curiously. "What will you do? You're still hurt, aren't you?" he nodded at the young woman's bandaged leg in concern.
"Trust me, I'll be fine!" Rose waved his concern off easily. "I just gotta deal with a few more things before I can really rest up." She put both hands on her hips. "Go on, get inside, Shepherd!" She waved her hand urgently towards the opening.
Nodding, Sorey went on ahead, leaving Rose alone amidst the entrance to the ruins. The leader of the Scattered Bones sighed, casually stretching her arms.
"…You're pretty good at this, you know that?" She complemented, apparently speaking to nobody.
She turned cheerily to face the raven-haired woman named Velvet appearing out of nowhere as the woman landed smoothly some distance away from her amidst the ruins with one knee in the grass.
"Even Eguille didn't notice!" Rose continued. "And he's been in this business way longer than me."
Velvet stood up in one smooth motion, strolling casually towards the assassin. "What can I say?" she asked, waving a lofty hand. "I've had a plenty of practice."
"No kidding." Rose hummed amicably, putting a hand on her hip.
As the other woman came to a halt before her, the leader of the Scattered Bones raised an eyebrow expectantly. "So. What's the actual deal between you and Sorey?" she prompted. Despite her lofty tone, Velvet could clearly tell based on the subtle cues of her body that Rose was keenly evaluating just how much of a threat she was.
"I could ask you the same." The therion put a hand on her own hip, mirroring Rose's stance. "Why go through all this effort to see if Sorey meets your standards for a Shepherd?" she asked. "Seems a bit unorthodox for assassins to freely choose whom they kill."
"Not all assassins are the same, silly." Rose berated with a grin. "It's just the job of the Scattered Bones to kill those who deserve it, and that's that."
"A virtuous assassin's guild?" Velvet raised an eyebrow incredulously. "An oxymoron if there ever was one."
Rose frowned. "Hey, we're not just that. Don't forget, us Sparrowfeathers are pretty kickass merchants, too." She put both hands on her hips happily. "As you can tell, I'm kinda proud of this little operation I've got going on here, and I'm not afraid to admit it!"
Velvet let out an amused huff. "I can see why they all follow you." she remarked, shifting on her feet. "You're not someone who shies away from getting things done, are you?"
"Darn straight I'm not!" Rose chirped happily. "I'm a no-nonsense sorta gal, through and through, no matter the odds!"
The therion couldn't help but be amused at her choice of words. "…I suppose you could say you and I have that in common." Velvet waved a hand loftily. "Between you and me, I'm pretty sure the world could use some more people who just do what they want to do."
"Ugh. Tell me about it." the assassin moaned, rubbing her head in irritation. "The worst offenders are those politicians in Rolance and Hyland, if you ask me. Or maybe it's just politicians in general. That's a big part of why I have this whole side gig going on in the first place." she grumbled. "They just piss me off, going on and on in circles to no end!"
"It really is a broken system." Velvet agreed. "And when the system can't fix itself, you take matters into your own hands. Am I wrong?"
"That's what we do. We're sorta like family in how we all care for each other and how we all just want to get things done." Rose remarked fondly.
Velvet tilted her head. "What's the next move for you and your guild, then? Now that the war's been halted for the time being."
The redhead cupped her chin thoughtfully. "…You know what? I haven't thought that far ahead yet." She laughed self-deprecatingly. "Sometimes you gotta just let these things happen and see where you end up. Wind in your sails, or something like that."
"Right…"
Velvet shook her head, letting her hand fall from her hip. "In any case, I'll be going on ahead." It was a statement rather than a request, and both of them knew it.
Rose hummed quietly, shifting on her feet and carefully examining the other woman. A light breeze picked up, causing the sea of leaves high above their heads to wave and ripple. Dry leaves pattered noisily on the floor around them, punctuating the silence.
Abruptly, Rose opened her mouth.
"Well there's plenty of room to go around." she chirped brightly. "Feel free to ask Felice for anything you need in terms of food and water. She knows the hideout like the back of her hand!"
Velvet nodded. With permission having been granted, the therion strolled past the assassin, stopping at the edge of the hole leading down into the hideout. Quietly, she glanced over her shoulder. "…Thank you, by the way." she muttered softly. "For saving Sorey from that battlefield."
Rose blinked, whirling around in surprise. "Hold up. You were there too?!" she asked with wide eyes. "Why didn't you…?"
Velvet just sighed, waving off her questions. "…I can't have my tools breaking on me." she stated simply.
Rose watched as the enigmatic woman turned and leapt down into the hideout with a hard and serious expression. "Velvet Davidson, huh?" she asked no one, shifting on her feet.
"…Just who the heck are you?"
All around her, the leaves continued to fall.
"…Damnit, Sorey." Mikleo muttered under his breath, his boots squeaking quietly on the stone floor as he paced back and forth in front of Sorey's bed for the umpteenth time.
Sitting primly on a neighboring bed, Edna sighed as she watched the water seraph send worried looks at the Shepherd every five seconds, as if afraid his friend would spontaneously vanish from sight in between glances. "If you keep this up," she pointed out dully, "the humans will be freaked out by the rut spontaneously digging itself into the floor."
On a dime, the water seraph whirled around. "Edna, aren't you worried in the slightest?!" Mikleo exclaimed. "What if Sorey stays like this?! What if Heldalf's suppression of his resonance lasts forever, and Sorey will never see any of us again? I don't know I'd to do if that were the case!"
Lailah trotted up, sending her own worried glance at the unconscious Shepherd before facing Mikleo placatingly. "Resonance is an inherent natural trait present in humans with varying degrees of acuteness. It is highly unlikely that that man with the lion's head was able to completely reshape the fabric of Sorey's being merely by focusing his domain onto him." she reasoned. "It was more of a… temporary hindering of sorts. I have absolute confidence that, given enough time to recover, his resonance will return in full."
Mikleo absorbed took the information in like a sponge to water. "…So that's what that man called Heldalf did to Sorey." His fist curled in fury as he glanced away. "Despicable." he growled. "Just as I'd expect of such a being known as the Lord of Calamity…"
"There does indeed appear to be little doubt as to the nature of the man we've met." Lailah nodded soberly. "He must be the one whom Sorey must ultimately seek to overcome in his path as the Shepherd." she concluded.
Edna kicked her feet idly in the air. "He's totally doomed."
Mikleo huffed haughtily. "…As much as I'd like to disagree with you there, I can't." he admitted reluctantly. "Had Heldalf really wanted to kill him back there, Sorey would've been totally helpless."
"You noticed that as well, then." Lailah observed softly.
"Of course." Mikleo sighed, turning away and resuming his pacing. "Anyone could've seen how that man toyed with Sorey back there, plain as day. He's far too powerful for us; there's just no other way to look at it." he growled. "…Bastard."
The clinking of metal on stone abruptly began to echo through the chamber, announcing the arrival of a human into the empty room within the underground ruins. As one, the seraphim all turned towards the only entrance to the chamber to examine the newcomer.
Mikleo halted, his eyes wide.
"…Velvet!"
The cloaked traveler strolled smoothly into the chamber, her eyes swiftly taking in all of the three seraphim surrounding the unconscious body of the Shepherd as she came to a halt before them, her hands on her hip. "You're all alright." she observed.
"Mostly." Edna corrected with a dry smirk. "Personally, I could do with a lot less worrying from worrywart Meebo here. Worrybo."
Mikleo's eye twitched. Taking a deep breath, he ignored Edna and instead implored, "How about you, Velvet? You left us in the middle of the battlefield!" He took a step forward incredulously. "How in the world did you manage to find us here?"
Velvet shifted on her feet, tilting her head simply. "I told you I'd find you, didn't I?" her eyes briefly met Lailah's. "I always do the things I say I'll do." The fire seraph's lips were drawn into a thin line as she stared back at Velvet, her eyes hard. Velvet blandly held her gaze, openly unaffected by her judgement.
Unaware of the palpable tension in the air, Mikleo held a hand over his mouth pensively as he considered her words. "…I take it the assassins got in touch with you?" he presumed.
"In a manner of speaking."
He nodded. "I see. But why…?"
"Ngh…"
All conversation was dropped immediately as those present turned to the Shepherd finally stirring from his deep sleep. Slowly, blearily, Sorey eased his eyes open, grunting as he slowly sat up in the bed.
"Sorey!" Mikleo was the first at his friend's side, easily placing his hands on the young man's back and helping him up. "Take it easy! You've been out for a while."
"Ngh… sure." Sorey grunted, steadying himself with the seraph's help as he rubbed his eyes.
He froze abruptly, before whirling around, his eyes wide. "Mikleo!" he exclaimed brightly as he finally registered his friend standing over him. His gaze wandered past the water seraph to the others. "Edna! Lailah! You're all here!"
"Well, duh." Edna tilted her head. "Where else could we have gone? You are our vessel, remember?"
Lailah chuckled, clapping both hands before her happily. "It would seem you can finally see us all again." she observed. "You have no idea how worried we were about you this whole time."
Sorey blinked a few times. "So you guys were all still with me this whole time?"
"Of course." Mikleo nodded, crossing his arms. "Once we had left the oppressive domain of the battlefield, we were able to keep watch over you as you helped that woman Rose. According to Lailah, you merely had your resonance temporarily suppressed for a while."
"…It was that man who did that to me, wasn't it?" Sorey's eyes fell, hardening. "…'Heldalf,' he called himself." His fists clenched over the bedsheets covering his body as they all nodded in confirmation.
"He was toying with me." he muttered lowly.
Lailah exchanged a quiet glance with the others before slowly bobbing her head. "That… did seem to be our conclusion as well." she confirmed reluctantly.
Sorey's teeth gritted.
"What's your next move, then?"
The Shepherd jolted, the anger fading from his expression as he recognized the familiar voice. He whirled around in his bed, his jaw falling slack as he found Velvet Davidson leaning casually against the wall some ways away from the others, her arms crossed and her eyebrow raised intuitively. "V… Velvet! You're here!" he exclaimed in surprise.
At her unaffected, pointed expression, Sorey found himself quickly thinking over her prior question. "…What my next move is, huh?" he echoed thoughtfully. Behind him, Lailah's lips pursed, her eyes leaping between the Shepherd and the therion.
Mikleo took the question similarly to heart. "Now that we've finally met the enemy face to face and have seen just how powerful his corruption truly is, it's hard to say what's the best choice of action for the Shepherd now." he ruminated.
Edna leaned back on her bed, causing it to creak subtly. "Isn't it obvious? Sorey needs to get a boatload of power if he wants even the slightest chance at beating 'Ol Kittybeard." she pointed out bluntly.
Sorey's frown deepened.
Lailah shifted on her feet, interlacing her hands together. "…Perhaps it would be best to leave such difficult questions for later." she suggested gently. "The answer will come to you, in time."
He nodded slowly, meeting Lailah's eyes gratefully. "Thanks Lailah." he smiled. "And that goes for all of you." he added softly, facing the seraphim. "It's really, really nice to see you all once more."
"Same goes for us." Mikleo smiled back, putting a hand on his hip. "It's good not to be ignored by my best friend all the time, at least."
Edna tilted her head idly, glancing away. "Seriously. I was getting tired of you crying and sniffling this entire time."
"…" Mikleo took a physical step back in shock before rallying valiantly. "…I did not cry!"
Leaning against the wall of the chamber a little way away from them all, Velvet huffed in idle amusement. She suddenly noticed movement in the corner of her eye and turned to look. Slowly, the Shepherd and his seraphim too registered the presence of a group of assassins staring at him.
Rose, Eguille, Rosh, Talfryn, and Felice were clumped together at the entrance to the chamber, staring at Sorey with varying degrees of curiosity, amusement, and incredulousness. At the front of the pack, Rose cleared her throat hesitantly, briefly glancing at Velvet leaning in the corner before returning her gaze upon Sorey who had been facing away from her.
"Are you… talking to yourself?" she raised an eyebrow.
"O-oh! I uh…" Sorey stammered as he stumbled haphazardly out of bed, running a hand through his frazzled hair. Eventually giving up and deciding to go with the truth, he grinned sheepishly and gestured to the seraphim to his left. "My friends are here with me!"
This only confused Rose more. She cocked her head in befuddlement. "Huh?"
Velvet watched in dry amusement as the Shepherd shuffled on his feet. "They're uh… seraphim."
Rose took an impassioned step forward, her expression full of concern. "Is this a bad time?" she asked gently. "Should we come back later?"
Velvet turned her head as one of the other assassins slowly edged her way over to her as the conversation progressed. "You're Velvet, right?" the redheaded twin whispered. At her confirming nod, Felice gestured worriedly over at the Shepherd. "Is he… alright? You know." She tapped her head. "In there?"
The disguised therion sighed, shaking her head. "…Not one bit, if you ask me." she muttered.
Felice didn't seem enlightened in the slightest. "I… see."
Their gazes were drawn to movement as Sorey slowly walked towards Rose with a welcoming expression, holding his hands out placatingly as if approaching a caged wild animal. They watched as Sorey slowly latched onto Rose's hand, to her astonishment.
"H-Hey?!" the assassin stammered wide-eyed.
Behind her, Eguille had a hand on his hip and a raised eyebrow as he watched on. Rosh and Talfryn exchanged expressions of utter bemusement as Rose began to sweat in Sorey's two-handed grasp.
Sorey's smile was benevolent. "Just try and focus, Rose. Close your eyes."
"Uh… ah…" Rose stammered, hesitantly playing along and closing her eyes shut as she concentrated to the best of her ability.
Velvet's eyebrow raised as Lailah walked up to her side and raised her hand hesitantly. "Is he… trying to bring out her resonance?" she muttered under her breath.
At her side, Felice furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.
Lailah cleared her throat. "Oh, Rose? Can you hear-?"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"
Rose's screech of pure terror pierced the air and was akin to a knife straight to Velvet's brain with her enhanced hearing. She and the other assassins watched on as Rose began to frantically jerk her hand up and down, trying desperately to escape Sorey's grasp.
Lailah's eyes were wide, her palms held together as she took in the assassin's reaction. "R-Rose, please just… calm down!" she tried to placate the hysterical woman.
Rose shook her head violently with a cry. "I'm not hearing this!" she denied vehemently. "Let me go! Lemme go, you idiot!" she howled.
"H-hey! Easy, Rose!" Sorey stammered.
"Rose! Please, listen!" Lailah tried again helplessly.
Suddenly, behind Sorey's back, Edna had an epiphany, evidenced by her plonking a fist in her palm. She lithely snuck past Sorey and Lailah to put her face perfectly positioned slightly behind Rose's right ear. "We're ghooooooooooooooooooooosts~" she cooed.
Sorey froze.
Velvet blinked.
Mikleo and Lailah exchanged wide-eyed glances.
Rose's scream of pure, unadulterated terror rattled the very foundation of the ruins as she instinctively jerked her free fist back and slammed a vicious left hook straight into Sorey's cheek.
CRASH!
Felice, Velvet, and the rest of the assassins watched, tilting their heads upwards as the Shepherd flew through the air in a gracious arc, his cloak twirling ridiculously behind him. His body slammed violently into the wall on the far opposite side of the chamber with an auditable crack.
Standing beside a heaving, terrified Rose, Edna idly examined the results of her ploy. "Uh oh." she said simply. Mikleo and Lailah gave her wide-eyed looks in response. For Sorey, the Shepherd, having finally woken up after much, much deserved rest, had been slammed straight back into unconsciousness.
With one final, shuddering cry, Rose whirled around and dashed past the rest of the assassins without another word.
By Velvet's side, Felice broke into a fit of uncontrollable giggles. "Oh, oh no." she covered her smile with a hand. "The Boss really can't handle stuff like that."
Velvet let out a breath of exasperation. "You don't say." She ran her eyes over the dazed expression of the Shepherd as he slowly tried to regain consciousness, the rest of the Seraphim surrounding him as the other assassins came over to help him out. She heaved a sigh, shaking her head in bemusement.
Tool or not, useful or not, there was no denying how much of a fool Sorey was.
"…Man."
Sorey heaved a sigh, scratching his head as he tried to wrap his head around the current predicament, he and the others had inadvertently found themselves in. Here they were, in the heart of the ancient Tintagel Ruins that had served as the hideout for the Scattered Bones, exploring simply to take their minds off of what had happened regarding the Lord of Calamity.
That was what they had been doing, at least, until Rose – whom had inexplicably tagged along for their impromptu expedition into the unexplored portion of the ruins – had clumsily triggered a switch and consequently trapped them all inside a featureless stone chamber.
He scratched his head, walking around and staring at every square inch of the walls before him, finding absolutely nothing that could possibly let him and the others out of this chamber. "Some expedition this is turning out to be." he sighed.
Meanwhile, the rest of the seraphim were finding similar things to do to bide their time as Rose tried her best to free them from the outside. For what else could they do?
Edna was idly kicking around a clump of mossy rock that had been dislodged from the ceiling with her oversized boots. Mikleo was trying to beat Sorey in their little bet to find an exit to the chamber before the other and was having just as much success. Meanwhile, Lailah was simply sitting against one of the walls of the chamber, quietly running a comb through her long, flowing hair.
The fire seraph had a soft smile on her face as she watched Sorey and Mikleo once more start bickering across the chamber from her. Memories from times that had long since passed flashed before her eyes, all colored with different, separate hues from the emotions that she had associated with them. Happy, sad, and bittersweet memories; the prime lord cycled through them all.
It was important that she didn't linger in the past, however. This she had learned from experience.
CRASH!
"Hey! That sounded promising." Rose's voice echoed through the small peephole that looked into the chamber and resounded loudly throughout the enclosed space. "Sorey? Did that do anything?" she prompted.
The Shepherd glanced around before shaking his head. "It looks like we're still trapped. Keep looking, Rose." he urged.
The woman's grunt of frustration was plainly audible. "Why didn't the jerkheads who built this pile of stones leave behind a few legible pictograph instructions, color-code these levers, or for at least make this place in a way that actually made a lick of sense?" she demanded. "This is so stupid!"
Edna's eyes had been fixed upon the ceiling ever since the thunderous boom that had sounded out once Rose had done what she had done. "…Hellions." she announced blandly.
Sorey blinked, turning up towards where she was looking. "Huh?"
Right on cue, a horde of snake hellions tumbled from the stone trapdoor that had suddenly opened in the ceiling, raining down upon the unsuspecting Shepherd's group. Blurs of black and brown crashed onto the flat stone floor below, hissing in pain and anger, coiling aggressively in preparation for a battle.
Explosions and yells filled the chamber within seconds as the Shepherd's group scrambled to action, fending off the dozens of snake hellions threatening to overwhelm them all. Lailah was the most unprepared of all of them, hurriedly getting to her feet and dropping her comb onto the floor in the process. Seeing a trio of snakes rapidly approaching her, her first instinct was to take a step back and to initiate a close-range blast of flame. What she hadn't accounted for was the snake that had snuck up behind her.
"Rising Falcon!"
CRASH!
Lailah jerked to the side in surprise as a blur of black and crimson slammed into the stones directly behind her, accompanied by a loud grating squeal of a hellion being kicked across the chamber. Velvet's steel boots screeched as they quickly came to a stop on the surface, whereas the woman had already redirected her attention to the other hellions closing in on her and Lailah from all directions. "Focus!" she demanded without taking her eyes off the enemy.
The fire seraph shook her head once and did just that, turning away from the woman and completing her arte right in the nick of time.
BANG!
The trio of hellions attacking her were sent scurrying away with squeals of pain and their serpentine bodies fully ablaze for their efforts. Her eyes filled with determination befitting that of a wizened prime lord such as herself, Lailah took another step forward and gestured sharply with her hand. More explosions rang out in their immediate vicinity, sending the swarm of attacking snake hellions into chaos.
Meanwhile, Velvet's sword and boots whistled through the air as she danced around snarling hellions, retaliating with non-lethal strikes and rendering each of their attacks useless, ensuring both herself and Lailah were unharmed. The two women inadvertently bumped back-to-back, briefly isolated from the rest of the group amidst a sea of conflict. Velvet whirled around in a complete turn, slamming her boot into two hellions at once and sending them hurtling towards Mikleo and Edna who dealt with them accordingly. "If you've got something to say to me, say it now."
Lailah glanced briefly over her shoulder at the woman with an unreadable expression, absently gesturing in the air in an effort to formulate a new arte.
Her long hair slinging behind her, Velvet tore around and slammed the flat side of her gauntlet blade into a snake attempting to sink its fangs into the back of Lailah's neck and swept it clean away. She glanced at the fire seraph with a cold expression. "I told you right from the start what I want. Nothing's changed. Sorey is a pawn to me, and nothing more."
Lailah's eyes narrowed. "So it would seem…!" The fire seraph let out a fierce cry as she finalized her arte, directing her powers to a clump of hellions harrying Sorey and Mikleo across the chamber.
BANG!
The fire seraph, heaving for breath, sent Velvet a furious look. "Yet have you not a shred of compassion towards the innocent young man you are twisting so?!" she hissed. "Sorey has been nothing but open and welcoming to you. Surely you aren't so cold as to have not noticed this? Have you no feelings for the falsity and deceit that define your every waking moment in his company?!"
To her ever growing agitation, Velvet gave her an unaffected shrug in response.
"I'm sure he'll regret allowing me into the group once the truth inevitably comes out." she dismissed with a wave of her hand. The smirk that followed that statement was fanged. "Until then, I'll take every chance I can get to improve the tool at my disposal."
Lailah let out an incredulous breath, turning around and slashing her hand in the air, conjuring a blazing phoenix that burst spontaneously through the air with a piercing cry to drive off her foes. "…I hope that you are truly aware as to how despicable of a person you are." she muttered under her breath.
Velvet sighed, slowly standing up straight as the last of the hellions were mopped up by Sorey's purification powers. "Yeah, yeah." She shifted on her feet idly. "Tell me something I didn't figure out a thousand years ago."
Lailah shook her head slowly, too standing up straight and letting her arms fall to her side. "…I've been thinking back to all of His vague comments about you over the years. I think I finally understand what he meant." Her jaw set as she turned to face Velvet squarely, her eyes narrowing. "That is, I think I am finally coming to recognize exactly what kind of person you are, Velvet Crowe."
The woman in question crossed her arms unaffectedly, holding her judgmental gaze defiantly. "You just don't like what you've learned, huh?" She shrugged callously. "Funny how little I care."
Lailah could only grit her teeth in response.
"Rose!"
Sorey's call echoed throughout the chamber as he fended off a new batch of hellions that had just dropped in and had promptly begun attacking him and Edna. "Rose, try something else, please! Things aren't getting much better in here!" he pleaded.
"Hold on!" came the distant reply. "Unlike you, I'm new to this whole ruin-diving thing." A pause followed. "Maybe… this one?"
CRASH!
The group tensed, their eyes hurriedly sweeping the area in resigned anticipation for another battle. Yet none came.
They were instead surprised by a welcoming, crisp gust of fresh air that sliced through the dank, stale air of the ruins like a knife through hot butter. As one, the group turned to watch as the thick stone slab barring the way forward slid downwards smoothly through the means of a hidden mechanism, revealing an additional chamber within. Sorey's face split into a wide smile as he jogged out of the imprisoning chamber. "Rose! You did it!" he exclaimed as the woman in question met them at the entrance.
Following at a more sedate pace, Velvet stopped and narrowed her eyes, eyeing the assassin. "…Next time you try to kill us, use your friends instead of pulling an annoying stunt like that." she growled.
"Aha…" Rose, laughed abashedly in response, running a hand through her short hair. "That might've been a better alternative, in retrospect. But hey! No harm, no foul I say." She shook her head, instead gesturing to her side. "But never mind that; when I pulled that lever, something else in this chamber opened up just now." She shifted on her feet, the charms dangling from her outfit swaying with the motion. "And when it did, for some reason I felt a breeze coming that way."
Sorey glanced at Mikleo meaningfully before gesturing to Rose. "Let's go together, then." He offered her a smile. "If you're getting into ruin-diving, I should be around to help show you the ropes." he reasoned.
"Sure." Rose grinned. "Then you can go first and get skewered by any traps that are hidden up ahead. I'll go home with the treasure."
He blinked. "Huh?"
Mikleo snorted into his palm. "Such a gentleman."
Lailah clapped her hands together softly. "Since we've already fallen prey to one such trap, let us all stay vigilant, and ensure our noble Shepherd leads his lady through the perilous task before him."
Edna rolled her umbrella once, shrugging wordlessly in response.
"Right…" Sorey turned to the task at hand, Rose and Velvet exchanging glances behind his back as he stepped up to the mouth of the doorway, carefully feeling the frame and examining the passageway beyond the door itself.
The darkness betrayed no secrets, and yet the faint presence of distinctly fresh outside air clashed harshly with the centuries-old musty aroma of the ruins around him. A soft rippling wisp of unnatural wind kissed his cheeks and ruffled his hair briefly. He froze, turning to the side in surprise as he felt...
Rose tilted her head curiously as he stared directly at her.
"…Something wrong?" she prompted.
Blinking, Sorey shook his head and turned back to the task at hand. "Just my imagination." he dismissed as he brushed the feeling off.
Breathing deeply, the Shepherd faced depths of the mysterious ruins, his followers at his side. Despite the danger and the uncertainty, Sorey found a light smile on his face as he faced the unknown. Despite the uncertainty of the future and his questionable abilities as a Shepherd, his passion for exploring ruins would forever stay beside him. That was just who he was. With that thought in mind, Sorey ducked his head and stepped inside, plunging headlong into darkness.
Rays of soft moonlight lazily drifted down from a bottomless well built on the surface high above in the ceiling of the massive chamber. Water dripped rhythmically in the surrounding darkness; moisture from the trees above falling down to gather into puddles on the weathered stone. Flourishing in the damp, dark conditions, patches of mushrooms sprouted from the stone intruding upon the ancient brick wall padding the circumference of the derelict underground chamber.
An ancient, underground chamber; one that had been left undisturbed for centuries. He was the first human that had step foot in this ancient place for who knew how long? Stuff like this never failed to thoroughly boggle his mind.
"You can close your mouth now."
Even Edna's blasé attitude couldn't rain on Sorey's parade he whirled around, near shaking with enthusiasm. "Just look at all this!" he exclaimed wildly. "Think of how much effort this would've taken just to carve out, not to mention the demands of ensuring the place had enough structural supports to stop it from collapsing in on itself! It's so big! There's got to be a reason why the people who built this place went to such extraordinary lengths to construct this chamber!" His enthusiastic voice echoed off the surrounding walls of the vaulted chamber.
Rose stared incredulously. "I mean, it's super cool and stuff, but…" She raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you reading into this just a bit too much? When it's all said and done, it's just a room."
"No way." Sorey shook his head firmly. "This place is an adventurer's dream! There is so much to be gleaned from place like these. For example, the manner in which the bricks of the walls were made, how they were adhered together, and what they're made of; these things can tell us all sorts of things about who built this, when they built it, and how much it cost for them to build it." He crossed his arms, his brow furrowing. "And then, with that information, it's possible to begin theorizing. For instance, if it turns out that this chamber was built in a time period where it was once believed an ancient civilization had long since fallen, that would imply wealth and purpose and completely overturn decades of historical research and hypotheses!"
At his side, Mikleo added, "Don't forget, even if it goes the other way and falls snugly within our current modern renditions of the timeline of history, that's just another piece of evidence to further set the current research in stone." He gestured around himself. "And that's just one example. Think of all of the little clues hiding in this very chamber that have the potential to completely revolutionize everything we thought about a given era."
Sorey nodded sagely. "Just wait until we get the chance to really sink our teeth into these ruins here. I could write an academic tome with nothing but the contents of this chamber alone."
Mikleo glanced up at the sky above. "Try two tomes. I'm completely lost as to why a well is connected to this chamber. Do you think maybe this entire place was submerged with fresh water at one point?"
Sorey's eyes widened. "…No way!" he gasped.
Edna's face was locked in a steady deadpan. "…They've turned rabid." she muttered as the two began to debate why a room would be designed like this, utterly and completely off in their own little world. She glanced to the side. "Lailah." she addressed. "Put them down. It's for their own good."
The fire seraph giggled into her palm in response, thoroughly bemused.
Behind her, Velvet's expression was unreadable as she watched the two boys go back and forth, collaborating their notes to the complete weirding-out of Rose who was watching Sorey animatedly talking ruin-gibberish to himself. She glanced away, her jaw stiffening.
"…And there he goes, talking to himself again."
Rose, evidently fed up with being ignored in favor of an imaginary friend, trotted around Sorey to explore the chamber herself, curiously checking under rocks and rubble for any potential treasure. "…I swear it just looks a bit like an oversized cave to me. I don't get what…" She blinked, abruptly registering something on the side of the wall. "Huh?"
"Sorey!" she called.
The Shepherd turned and his eyes widened as he saw what Rose was gesturing at. "That's… A mural!"
"Looks like a map of Glenwood of sorts." Rose noted as Sorey and Velvet approached, turning towards the mural with a curious eye. "But not quite. Looks pretty outdated. And what's the deal with those markings dotted all over the place?"
Stepping carefully around Rose, Lailah ran her eyes over the extensive map carefully framed and etched in stone before her. She glanced over her shoulder at Sorey. "This mural appears to depict… locations of shrines."
Mikleo blinked, squinting at the weathered letters in the ancient tongue bordering the map. "…Four shrines containing four trials, each of which are meant to test…" His eyes widened. "'The one who is to be the Shepherd.'" he quoted.
Sorey's eyes were wide. "…So then these trials are for me, huh?"
At his side, Rose gave him a curious look.
Velvet carefully scanned the map with her arms crossed. "Seems that way." She gestured with her head to the yellow emblem on the bottom left corner of the map. "That's the closest one to us right now."
"Where modern-day Biroclef Ridge is, it looks like." Mikleo agreed. "I'll take a note of all of these locations. They'll most likely be very important to us."
Edna glanced listlessly around the chamber. "We'll probably find stuff that's meant to help the Shepherd in those shrines." she surmised, turning back to the mural. "It probably won't be a walk in the park, either."
"Something that'll help me out, huh?" Sorey repeated thoughtfully. "So, likely something to aid me in the battle against the Lord of Calamity."
At this, Lailah glanced away, clapping her hands enthusiastically. "Ah! Inspiration! Tonight, we should prepare cheesecake for dessert!" she sang.
The group ignored her, as per second nature.
After a moment of consideration in the silence that followed, Sorey nodded to himself. "…Hey, Rose?" he asked abruptly. "Can I ask you some-?"
CRASH!
Sorey and the others whirled around in shock and surprise as something large and heavy smashed into the stone floor at the center of the chamber, having evidently fallen from the well up above. At the same time, they winced as considerable malevolence suddenly flooded the area, accompanied by sharp, whipping gales that swirled around like a maelstrom amplified by the curved walls of the chamber.
"AAAAAHHH!"
Velvet cursed as she registered Rose, whom had wandered away from the mural, now cornered on the opposite end of the chamber by the imposing winged hellion that had landed in the center of the chamber. Her eyes widened as the bipedal dragon's iron sword fell in a sweeping curve, aimed right at the woman's neck. "Rose!"
CRACK!
Violent cracks of air reverberated through the chamber as pendulums slashed with the wind, expertly conducted by the seraph that had suddenly appeared before Rose's trembling body, vehemently defending her from the attacking hellion. One wearing a black trench coat and a distinctive-looking top hat.
Mikleo blinked, taking the scene. "The wind seraph from before?!"
Sorey's eyes widened as he once again registered the sensation of unnatural wind bending on his skin. "Dezel!"
Rose herself had frozen up in terror, her phobia completely immobilizing her limbs as she simply covered her ears and squeezed her eyes shut. "S… Stop it!" she screeched, shaking her head in denial. "This… t-this isn't happening!" The menacing shapes phasing in and out of existence in her eyes suddenly lunged directly towards her, accompanied by a terrifying, distorted otherworldly snarl. She screamed, wildly slashing her daggers through the air in a paltry attempt to defend herself.
And then the world was tilted upside-down.
Rose groaned and shook her dizzy head, lying sprawled out and winded on the floor of the chamber and staring up at the starry sky visible through the tunnel presented by the well in the ceiling. Through her fuzzy vision, she somehow managed to make out the figure standing over her body, snarling as she pushed back against the ghost with all her might as their blades locked.
"Vel…vet?" she mumbled blearily.
The woman's eyes flitted down for a split-second at the winded assassin whom she had just shoved to the floor. "Keep your head down and your mouth shut." she hissed through gritted teeth. She abruptly snapped her head to the side, her visibly trembling sword arm beginning to waver. "Sorey, now!" she yelled, forcing her body to the limit as she pushed hard, forcing the enormous hellion to take a step back.
"Eat this!" roared the Shepherd as he crashed down upon his target, blasting the hellion with the full might of Edna's Armatus. The entire chamber shook in the wake of his landing, only to erupt once more in tremors as the Shepherd continued his assault, driving the Dragonewt away from Velvet and Rose.
Heaving for breath with sweat dripping liberally off her chin, Velvet suddenly turned around and violently seized Rose's collar, jerking her straight towards her own face so that their noses were almost touching.
"Wake the hell up!" she spat.
Confused, winded, and still trembling from her rampant phobia, Rose could do nothing more but blink stupidly at the order.
Velvet let out a disdainful exhale, shaking her head and catching her breath. "…You told me you're a no-nonsense gal who get things done, didn't you? No matter the odds?" The woman gritted her teeth and chopped her free hand sharply through the air. "Then what the hell do you call that pathetic display just now?!" she yelled.
Rose's breath hitched.
Velvet jerked her head towards the specter Sorey was barely managing to battle even with the full might of his powers. "As for your little assassin's guild?" she added vehemently. "Your beloved 'family'? The hell are they going to do when their leader disappears without a trace? The hell are they going to think when we go back and tell them you were killed because you froze during the one moment that mattered most?"
She opened her mouth… but no words came out.
"Tch." With a callous jerk of her arm, Velvet released Rose who barely managed to keep herself from falling on her back.
The therion stood up sharply, turning away to face the fight only to be confronted by the unfamiliar wind seraph standing directly in front of her, his arms crossed and his jagged teeth showing. Her eyes narrowed in readiness.
"Out of my way." she growled lowly. Down by her side, her bandaged left hand flexed instinctively.
The hatted seraph paused. After a moment, he smoothly sidestepping to the side without a word, letting the woman pass. Beyond him, the fight between the Shepherd and the monstrous hellion dragged on.
Velvet took a step forward but hesitated for a split second, glancing over her shoulder at the trembling mess of a woman behind her. "…Looks like I was wrong about you." she stated dully.
With that, the therion burst into motion, charging headlong towards the Shepherd's battle and leaving Rose alone. The assassin could only watch her leave, her chest rising and falling as the woman's words sank in, cutting her to her core. She gritted her teeth, dully staring at her trembling hands. The sharp clang of steel slamming on steel alongside the wealth of warped noises induced by the otherworldly powers of the Shepherd filled the chamber, making Rose want to simply cover her ears and curl up into a ball with her eyes shut until the world went back to normal. She was just so… confused. So out of her depth. So damn lost.
She shook her head again, trembling. This just can't be…!
"…se… Rose!"
Rose slowly lifted her head from her hands, trembling as the voice slowly seeped in through the noise. "H… huh…?!" she gasped.
Standing before her, Mikleo smiled gently. "…So you can hear me now?" he observed quietly.
"Sorry about Velvet." he apologized conversationally. "She can sometimes be extraordinarily terrifying, to everyone." He shrugged hopelessly. "And I have no idea why she blew up on you just now. She's rather strange, if you ask me."
Rose gulped, holding a trembling fist up to her chest and slowly reinforcing her resolve. "S… S-she's… the strange one?" she replied weakly, still purposefully keeping her gaze away from where the voice was coming from. "C-coming from a ghost, that's p-pretty rich."
Mikleo shifted on his feet patiently. "I'm no ghost." he explained. "You needn't be scared, Rose. It's as Sorey said to you earlier. We seraphim are indeed Sorey's friends." The seraph idly readjusted the grip on his battle staff. "…But to be honest, I'm not entirely sure that our presence is going to be enough in the coming days." he admitted. "Not with what we're up against."
Everything was wrong. She shouldn't be hearing this. This wasn't real. She was going insane. Yeah, that was it. She was simply going insane. Bonkers. Loony. Easy.
But wait…
Rose's unseeing eyes slowly turned upwards towards Mikleo. "T-Then…" she began hesitantly, "you're telling me…"
Mikleo nodded slowly. "I've seen who you are, Rose. We all have." he stated gently. "And not only that, you seem to be gifted with the ability to sense us seraphim; a trait that is all but extinct today." He absently shifted his staff in his grip. "My point is that if you wanted to, you'd be welcome to join us in our travels. Maybe even sharing Sorey's powers through a squire's pact, if you'd like."
Rose slowly got to her feet, braving her trembling limbs to stare out blindly in the direction of Mikleo's voice. "S-so I can what, help make the world a better place or something?" she began to squint shakily, barely making out the faint outline of something… abnormal in her vision.
Mikleo crossed his arms. "Something like that." he agreed. "In any case, it's ultimately your call."
Rose nodded slowly, her gaze slowly falling to her feet down below. Her fists clenched harshly. "…Say, what's your name?" she breathed softly.
"Mikleo." the seraph replied gently.
Rose nodded slowly. "Mikleo… right."
Slowly, her head began to rise, her eyes linking completely with Mikleo's eyes as she broke into a slow smirk. "I guess that means I can't be going mad then. There's no way I'm creative enough to come up with a name as weird as that." She grinned self-deprecatingly directly at him.
Mikleo blinked.
Rose blinked. Her eyes bulged.
"…AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!"
SMACK!
Mikleo groaned, having been bodily shoved to the ground. "U…ugh." he grunted, rolling over onto his feet. "That's a fine how-do-you-do if there ever was one…" he breathed.
Heaving for breath, Rose glanced around frantically. Everything was different. Nothing was the same. Everywhere she looked she saw new, unfamiliar things that were freaky as hell… but she wouldn't turn back.
"A-Alright then you stupid ghosts, seraphim, or whatever! Sorey, Velvet… Mikleo!" She shook her head wildly before calming herself, forcing her eyes open steadily as she took a whole different world before her. "I… I see you! I see you all! Now gimme that pact thingie and get me in on this now before I change my mind!" she yelled shakily.
With a cry, Velvet twisted her body in midair and struck the flat side of the blade attempting to slice her in twain with her boot, landing a few meters away from her opponent and glancing over her shoulder at Rose. "You sure you can handle that?" she called back with a pointed glance; the unspoken challenge clear in the air.
Her eyes narrowing, Rose's chin dipped in determination. "I have to make up for the mess I made of myself, don't I!" she shot back, putting both fists haughtily on her hips. "I'll prove that I can in fact handle myself, thank you very much!"
Velvet huffed in bemusement. "Then you'd better not waste our time." she warned before jerking backwards, dodging the flames of the Dragonewt sent spewing her way.
Rose gave her a predatorial smirk in return.
Sorey yelled as he unleashed a flurry of sword strikes against his opponent, driving him off for a bit longer. "Rose! Are you…?" he met her gaze, carefully studying the determination steeling her features. Evidently satisfied, he gave a nod. "...Thank you." he returned, before charging back into the battle. "Lailah!" he called. "I'll buy us some time!"
The fire seraph took an urgent step forward. "But Sorey! You have to give her a true name first!"
"Wilkis Wilk!" the Shepherd yelled as he and the hellion exchanged blows once more.
Lailah blinked twice. "Huh?" When she didn't get a response, she smiled weakly and conceded, "A-All right!"
Together, Sorey and Velvet coordinated their attacks, repeatedly driving the hellion backwards and way from Lailah and Rose as the ritual began in the background. Edna and Mikleo supplanted their tactics simultaneously, ensuring that the powerful hellion could never focus completely on one person at any given point in time. Once the rhythm of battle was established, it was only a matter of time before help arrived.
"…FETHMUS MIOMA!"
BANG!
Both Sorey and Velvet leapt out of the way as a massive longsword cleaved through the air, exploding upon impact with the floor and conjuring a massive pillar of fire that engulfed the entire body of the Dragonewt instantly, eliciting hideous shrieks of pain and agony. Garbed in the flowing blaze-white clothing of Lailah's Armatus, Rose leapt back to land shoulder to shoulder with Velvet and Sorey, her eyes brimming with power. Her gaze landed on Velvet briefly as their opponent burned. "See? I'm not a liar, I promise." she pointed out gleefully.
Velvet simply waved a hand in turn. "I never said you were." she replied with an innocuous smirk.
Rose gaped at her incredulously.
"W-wait a minute… Hey!" she exclaimed in affront, scrunching up both fists and pouting. "You totally riled me up back there on purpose!"
"Guys." Sorey ran a hand through his sweat-matted hair in exasperation. "Not the time!"
Punctuating that statement, the burnt and blackened hellion reared back and uttered a furious roar that bounced deafeningly off the scorched walls of the desecrated chamber before it charged at the three of them once more.
Growling herself, Rose turned to face the monster before her in irritation. "Listen, you oversized punk!" she yelled back. "I'm having a very, very, very strange day today, and I'm not at all happy about it! And I also just happen to be holding a giant flaming sword that I know how to swing! So bring it on!"
Behind her back, Velvet and Sorey exchanged a glance.
"Hm." Standing besides Sorey, Edna twirled her umbrella. "I sure didn't expect this to happen." she remarked passively.
Mikleo gave her a murderous look. "It was your fault that she thought we were ghosts to begin with."
Together, the Shepherd's group charged back into battle, now with a new warrior by their side. With Rose's presence, albeit unexperienced, the newborn dragon was soon cornered and subdued by the combined might of the handful of humans and seraphim. The flames of purification spewed high and bright as the monster was engulfed in a silver bonfire, signaling the end of the arduous battle.
Gasping for breath, standing on shaking legs, Sorey let out a shuddering breath, falling to a knee and bracing himself in the aftermath of battle on the damaged stone bricks at his feet. "Phew!" he exclaimed.
Finally managing to let the Armatus go, Rose managed to plop herself down beside him, similarly exhausted. "Wha… what a workout." she groaned. "We… we sure showed that thing… whatever it was."
When Sorey opened his mouth to correct her, she sent him a death glare.
"Don't you dare try and shove another lecture down my throat right now." she growled. "I'm still an assassin, you know. You can read me my bedtime story later when we're back at the hideout, alright?"
Chuckling dryly, the Shepherd obliged, hanging his head silently as he caught his breath. Velvet slowly stepped over, leaning down and sitting beside Rose with a labored yet controlled breath. All around them, the seraphim gathered, all completely spent in the wake of the battle. Silence fell, resigning the towering chamber to silence once more.
Dezel was nowhere yet to be seen, and yet there was no doubt in anybody's mind that the strange wandering wind seraph was close by.
Rose slowly let her head fall backwards, leaning against the cool damp wall of the chamber. "…By the way." she whispered, trying not to break the calm. "Before that all started, you wanted to ask me something." She tilted her head. "What was it?"
Sorey blinked. "Right." He abruptly pivoted his body to face Rose fully whilst crossing his legs. "I had something to ask, because I've finally decided what I want to do next."
Edna cocked her head to the side. "You mean you've finally gotten over your slump ever since you got beat up by Kittybeard?"
Rose blinked twice. "Kitty-what?"
Sorey gave Edna a serious nod. "I have."
His gaze turned to pass over every one of the group members before finally coming to a rest upon Rose. He raised his left hand. The hand that was covered by the ancient glove bearing the holy crest of the Shepherd on its back. "…'The true purpose of the Shepherd.'" he quoted quietly, tracing the embroidered insignia that meant so much to him with his eyes.
"I… I failed back there." he admitted softly. "I was weak. My domain didn't stand a chance, and I was helpless as a result." Sorey took a deep breath, clenching his gloved hand into a fist. "There's no way I can possibly achieve what I set out to achieve… my dream… if I can't bear the true burden of the Shepherd upon my shoulders."
Mikleo's eyes were solemn. Lailah's lips were drawn into a thin line. Edna's expression was uncharacteristically serious. All eyes were on Sorey as he slowly lifted his gaze, meeting Rose's.
"I won't pretend like my failure never happened any longer. I won't pretend like everything hasn't changed." he declared solemnly. "No, my path forward is clear to me. If I'm to be a proper Shepherd who puts a stop to the reign of the Lord of Calamity, I must find my path, and do what needs to be done." He snapped his arm out to the side, gesturing towards the weathered mural at his back. "Whatever the shrines alluded to in that mural contain, they're a step in the right direction towards my ultimate goal."
"No more searching for answers." he declared. "I know now that the world will not be safe nor will my dream come true with such evil inhabiting the land. It would be wrong to not act accordingly."
Rose shifted in her seat, slowly understanding his point. "You wanted to ask me to come with you and help in your fight, huh?" she concluded seriously. "To help you find your power so that you can do what you need to do."
Sorey nodded. "If you don't want to, I can have Lailah-"
Rose abruptly leapt to her feet; all previous traces of fatigue seemingly having vanished into thin air. "Then we're headed to the closet shrine to here, huh? That's what, in Biroclef Ridge?" she gestured impatiently. "Then let's get going! it's a long walk and I'm hungry already."
Sorey blinked, a smile slowly growing on his face. "Rose…"
The assassin turned around with a smile. "Come on! I told you I'd help you out, didn't I?" she urged, putting both hands on her hips. "If I say I'm gonna do something, you'd better believe I'm doing it."
"…Alright." Sorey smiled warmly back, getting to his feet as well. "Lead the way, Rose."
"You bet I will." She nodded sagely. "You can get me up to speed on this whole Lord of Calamity thing to me on the way back to the hideout."
"Sure." Sorey agreed easily, following close behind.
Together, the utterly exhausted group of humans and seraphim began the long trip back through the damp, crowded ruins, hungry and tired. Yet, despite their discomfort, their steps were sure and steady as they walked forward, once more reassured to as the purpose and determination present in their leader's mind.
Up above, through the thin well tunneling up to the surface, the moon could be seen, slowly descending in a rapidly brightening sky. Silence fell as the echoing footsteps of the explorers faded, leaving behind only an empty chamber once more. The mural depicting the future of the Shepherd rested on the walls, patiently awaiting the next disciple to discover the secrets it offered.
Massive thanks to Paragon of Awesomeness for betaing this chapter!